Three Strikes
by Willo
Summary: Robin and Cyborg have had fallings out witheach other before, but never this bad. The introduction of new villians, a robbery-intercept gone wrong, and other twists may proove to break the friendship for good.
1. Default Chapter

_A/N: This is a teaser chapter.. reply if you enjoy it, yes? Actually.. reply if you don't, too. Just because._

**Three Strikes: **Chapter I

Red flashed through the tower, and in five different locations, five teens jumped up and ran for the garage. One to a motor cycle, two into a car, and two flying above. Responding to yet another crisis in downtown Jump.

"What is it this time, Robin?" The mechanical man asked over the radio to the Titan leader, riding alongside.

"Robbery, city bank." He responded, and glanced down from the traffic and onto his positioning window. Not that he needed to know the name of the street they were going to; he knew this city better then the back of his hand now.

"Taking the ally shortcut, Cy- meet you there." Robin said, and sped up around the blue car, before he glanced up. "Raven! Starfire!" The two girls glanced down, and as Robin indicated, they followed from above. After cutting through the alleyway littered by trash and down a short stretch of the street, they arrived at the bank.

A police line had not yet been formed; but in the distance, Robin could hear the cutting sound of sirens. He grinned slightly to himself; The response time of the Tower was quicker then that of the well trained Jump City Police. He skidded his bike to a halt next to the building, and Starfire and Raven landed next to him as he removed his helmet.

"There's a back way in," Robin said quickly, nodding towards the back of the building. "Lets go."

"Raven, open it up." Robin instructed as he skidded to a halt besides the metal door, his hand going to his belt to remove several throwing discs should they meet resistance on the other side.

"Robin, we should access it first-" Raven started as she landed beside him, hesitating. The leader glanced quickly at her; and from the other side of the door, several screams sounded- as well as wheels skidding to a halt out front. The police had arrived.

"Raven, now!" He exclaimed with a glance at her, crouching down slightly. She paused a moment, before lifting her hands. Black energy engulfed the door, and it ripped away. A buzzer sounded immediately, and drowned out the sound of Robin's communicator beeping, so the team continued forth without receiving the message.

The first room was dark besides the flashing of the red buzzer's light, so Starfire lit it with a green bolt before Robin broke down the next door. The catch would be easy, Robin decided as they bolted down the hallway. The robbers would see that the police (and hopefully Cyborg and Beast Boy, by now) had the front guarded, and come towards the back to be caught by Starfire, Raven, and himself.

But as Robin ran into the main lobby, he came to a skidding halt- throwing up a hand to stop the girls flying above. Now that they were away from the buzzing room, the communicator's message could now be heard. But it was pointless; for the scene played out in front of his eyes.

Five men wore black, with masks on. Not ski masks- but plastic replicas of ones Robin had seen too many times. There was a Red-X, a Mumbo, a Brother Blood, a Cinderblock.. and a Slade. They each held a gun; and each had it pointed not at the invading Titans... but at desk clerks, a child, and two women.

"-Hostage situation!" Robin finally heard Cybrog say over the communicator, "Robin, be CAREFUL!" The last word echoed around the room, filled only with the sounds of stiffled sobs.

"Too late." Growled the plastic face depicting Red-X, before a shot was fired from the gun. One of the women preceded to fall, silently. The shot had been one to kill. Those nearby screamed for her, and another masked face raised his gun to point at the ceiling. The proceeding shots caused more screams, then silence again.

"Raven, the guns-" Robin hissed, and shebegan to raise her hands to call the guns from all the men; but they were quicker. A second hostage was shot.  
"Not so fast, _Titans_.."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sarah Shima: Yes.. I suppose Robin was a bit impatient. Perhaps I should give reason for that later, hmm?  
GDeacur: Haha, good point about the Brother Blood mask. But then.. who would want to be a cinderblock, either? xD

Anyway, thankyou guys for the replies. Onward!

Chapter 2

"Not so fast, Titans.." Chuckled the Slade, slapping the Mumbo impersonator in the arm; who proceeded to drag the child hostage closer, the gun against his head. All the Titans stopped moving completely, and even Robin's communicator went silent. All those outside, including Cyborg and Beast Boy, had seen what had happened.

Robin felt shocked. His heart beat even seemed dull in his ears. Below his gaze that rested on the Slade-masked man were two dead bodies that could have easily been prevented. Behind him, Starfire's fingers were pressed against her lips, her emerald colored eyes wide. Raven.. Raven stood silently as well, watching the scene play out, before she turned her gaze to Robin.

"What.. do you want us to do?" Robin found himself asking, slowly. He had never trained to deal with hostage situations, really. Just to fight the villains; and yet suddenly these five people before him were among the worst. Before the robbers had a chance to reply, the phone rang.

"Answer that," Said the Slade, jerking his chin towards the phone. Rein quickly made a move for it, before the man yelled. "Not you! The girl," He said, "Purple skirt, red hair. You. Answer it."

Starfire gave an eep as she was commanded to, and didn't move for a moment.

"Go," Robin murmured, barely moving his lips. Starfire looked at him, before sliding over to the phone. As it rung another time, she decended her hand down upon the receiver- and Robin was thankful that she had sense figured out how the phone worked.

"Hello?" She asked, quietly. Robin knew that on the other side of the phone there was most likely a man trained to deal with situations like this. Or he hoped as much.

"He wishes to speak to one of you," Starfire said, her usually bright voice sounding oddly small in the large room.  
"We won't speak to anyone yet." The Slade answered quickly, and Starfire bit her lip before reporting the news.  
"The Slade who is not really Slade does not wish to speak with you."

"Hang up the phone," The Slade snapped, and Starfire obeyed. The Man proceeded to pace, before stopping and whirling on one of the three Titans. "All that we wanted to do was take a bit of cash, no one had to die." He sneered- and Robin caught sight of several dufflebags, no doubt full. Just a 'bit.'

"You three- on the ground over here. Now." He said, pointing at his feet. Robin paused, and then started forward with a nonchalant face. He took one last sweeping glance of the room, before slowly lowering himself down; as Starfire and Raven did the same. "Hands behind your heads." Once again, Robin did what was told, and proceeded to feel the rod of a pistol pressed against the back of his head.  
From this new position, Robin could see nothing; so he began to rely on his ears. What they really needed was a distraction, to call the attention away from the three remaining hostages. 'No, six..' Robin thought. The child, the clerk, the woman.. and Starfire, Raven, and himself. There were only five people, so one of them had no gun pointed at their head. But it didn't matter. No more lives could be lost. Robin suddenly cursed his foolhardy entrance, before trying to calm his mind. A distraction.. they needed a distraction.

As if on cue, the buzzer in the back room went on.

"You two, check it out." Robin heard the Slade grunt, and then felt the gun lift from the back of his head, followed by the sounds of two people running towards the back room. Robin chanced a glance up slightly, but it did little good. All he could see were feet, dead bodies, and a fly... He started to tuck his head back down, before he lifted his eyes again. That was a green fly.

Beast Boy continued to crawl towards him, then up and over into his hair. Robin laid his head back down. Cyborg must have come up with some sort of plan..

The phone proceeded to ring again, but instead of sending a hostage to pick it up, Robin heard the gruff voice of the Slade respond. "We want OUT. Now."

This meant three of the five now had their attention turned away from the hostages, and Robin lifted his head again slightly, before he froze. Something was moving under his cape, and he could feel it stop by his belt. 'Must be Beast Boy,' He decided, but none the movements were rather distracting. After a time he felt something disconnect from his utility belt; in the area where he kept his freeze discs. He felt Beast Boy pushing the item out from under his cape, and soon saw a very green mouse pushing a red-and-black ice bomb along the floor.

Beast Boy showed up like a sore thumb against the white tiles, and Robin couldn't belive what he was doing. It only took a second or two for the Mumbo to notice it, and the man gave a loud grunt.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, and one of the other masked faces replied.  
"It's a mouse pushing a bomb." The voice said, flatly, and then gave a breif howl of pain as he was whacked by the other man.  
"Idiot, it's a GREEN mouse. How often do you see a freaking green mouse?" He asked, and suddenly the Slade joined in on the conversation.

"Shoot it! It's that ruddy changling Titan!" He yelled, and there was the sound of a phone slamming down.

----

The buzzer went off in the backroom. Cyborg had just entered with Beast Boy, amazed at the fact that the door wasn't being guarded. But then again- only a crazy man or someone with a serious plan would burst in with the knowledge of a hostage situation out front. Cyborg had wanted the buzzer to ring. His goal was to gain attention- hopefully pull men away from the front.. and so far, his plan was working as the sound of two men running up the hall met his ears.

"BB- go, now." Cyborg said quickly, as he crouched behind the door. The green boy gave a nod, and quickly turned into a small green mouse. Going into the hall, he ran past the two masked men un-noticed.

The running stopped right outside the door, and one man proceeded in with caution. Cyborg was hardly worried about the gun, however- he was more worried about the sounds they would make, possibly alerting the others. So before they could see him, Cyborg jumped out into the hall slightly, grabbing both by the shirts before he cracked their heads together. If it had been any other time, he would have given a loud 'BOOYAH' as the two fell to the ground. But his face remained a mask of seriousness. This mission was no game; people were already dead.

After checking to make sure no one else was coming, he bent down and began tying the two men together. His work would have been no good if they simply regained consciences. Picking their guns up, he quickly spilt the bullets before sending the guns in opposite directions. And then, with a feeling of unease, he clicked his sonic cannon into gear and started down the hall slowly. It had been too easy..

He came to a halt at the end of the hall, and stooped down behind a desk. Peering carefully around it, he loacted the three remaining terrorists in the room, and then took a look at the hostages. Two dead- he had seen and heard that from out front, while behind him the police tried to move back a growing crowd. A crowd that quite possibly had held relatives of the two people now lying in their own pools of blood.

Cyborg gritted his teeth lightly, before taking a breath, telling himself to stay calm. He looked at the rest of the hostages then, lingering on his team and then breifly stopping on Robin. Robin... had been fool-hardy in entering the room. Cyborg had never seen him so hasty before. It figured, the one time... the one time their leader slipped, people ended up dead. DEAD.

Again trying to keep himself cool, his eye went to tracking Beast Boy, where he was now running out from under Robin's cloak, pushing the bomb.

"..Shoot it! It's the ruddy changling Titan!" Cyborg heard one of the men yell, and he tensed. This was his cue. Getting to his feet but remaining crouched, he watched carefully. One gun was raising.. then a second. The two that had hostages in front of them. Jumping up to his feet, Cyborg gave a bellow.

"Titans! NOW!" He yelled, and as he did so he took down one of the men with his blaster. Now only the Slade and the Mumbo were left standing, but both began to shoot rounds, as Cyborg had feared. But now the Titans were up as well. Raven had set up a barrier around the majority of the hostages, while Robin dove over another. A bullet hit his black caped back, but cloak withstood the blow. Titanium steel...

Starfire managed to shoot the gun out of the Mumbo's hands, leaving him weaponless. By now, Beast Boy had changed back. Five Titans turned on the Slade impersonator, and he began to back up.

"You've made a mistake," The man said, holding up his gun. Hardly a moment passed before Raven pulled it from his hands. The only advantage the men had had over the Titans were the hostages. With them gone, the robbers had been powerless against them.

"Get down on the ground. Now." Robin said, his voice low.. deadly. The Slade gave a sneer, before he dropped to his knees. Behind them, there was the sound of breaking glass as the police broke through the locked doors. Cyborg glanced towards the doors, watching the police, guns raised.

"Lets go." Cyborg said quickly, and turned on his heel. Raven and Beast Boy quickly followed, but Starfire had to give Robin a tug- he was still glaring at the prone form of the Slade. After several light words, he followed at a run as the police advanced further into the room.

They passed the fallen bodies in the back, now beginning to twitch in their bindings. Once again the alarm in the back room went off as they passed through, and once outside they all took a pause.

"Dude, did that seem easy or what?" Beast Boy said, rubbing the back of his neck with an akward look on his face. Placing his helmet onto his head, Robin glanced sharply at him.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever done." Robin said coldly, swinging a leg over his motorcycle. Starfire bit her lip, and Raven and Cyborg cast dark looks at each other. The five then slowly started out to the front of the ally, where Cyborg had been forced to leave his car.

As he and Beast Boy boarded it and the other three stood around the car, the crowd that had formed in front of the bank stared at them. Usually there were cheers and shouts of goodwill. This time, there was only silence as the five finally took their leave.

A/N: Well, This chapter was kind of boring. Sorry! And there are some spelling mistakes. I tried to catch them all with an internet spell checker, but if you find one kindly tell me? 


End file.
